[Changes in the wall of the rabbit vertebral artery following hypokinesia].

Limitations in general mobility produces a number of changes in the vertebral artery wall: distony of the vascular wall, degeneration and atrophy of its tissue elements. The morphological changes have a certain dynamics corresponding to differnt time of hypokinesia (2, 4, 8 weeks). The most intensive changes appear by the end of the first month and are located mainly in the internal and median tunica of the artery. The most active elements of the vascular wall are destroyed, namely, endothelium, smooth muscle cells, elastic tissue. As a result, on the 2d month of hypokinesia some parts in the vertebral artery wall grow thin, areas of the media poor in nuclei and disorders in elastic stroma appear. The changes mentioned above reach their greatest intensity in the initial, extracanal parts of the vertebral artery, and the least changes are seen in the wall of the intracranial part of the artery.